Insights from the American Customer Satisfaction Index

Month: October 2017

Toyota headlines the automobile industry when it comes to customer satisfaction, earning the top spot among both luxury and mass-market brands in this year’s American Customer Satisfaction Index. Toyota’s Lexus is the luxury leader at 86 (100-point scale), followed by an improved Mercedes-Benz at 84. For mass-market plates, Toyota’s namesake brand comes in first with an equally high score of 86, with Subaru closing in at 85.

General Motors is the only domestic automaker in the top five overall, with its GMC nameplate grabbing third place at a stable score of 84. Among luxury plates, two domestic offerings tie for third: GM’s Cadillac and Ford’s Lincoln. For the former, 2017 is a comeback year as Cadillac gains 5% to earn its berth on the leader board. Not so for Lincoln, which tumbles after holding first place among all vehicles a year ago—down 5% from 87 to tie with Cadillac (83).

Historically, Toyota has been a consistent leader in customer satisfaction. For three years running, the Japanese carmaker has placed in the top two among mass-market cars, while its Lexus nameplate hit number one in 2015 and tied for third in 2016 among upscale vehicles.

Latest data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index finds drivers less happy with their vehicles, as the automobile industry slips 1.2% to a score of 81 (scale of 0 to 100). The downturn comes after a year when sales peaked and driver satisfaction improved. The bad news, however, is primarily on the domestic side as many imports are excluded from the decline. Foreign-made vehicles continue to have the highest driver satisfaction and 77% of the above-average nameplates in the ACSI are imports.

For the overall industry, demand seems somewhat saturated, and total car sales dropped in the first half of 2017. Customer satisfaction also retreats, but individual nameplates post more year-over-year gains than losses. Among the 25 car brands tracked by the ACSI, 12 improve and 8 decline—4 of which are domestic plates. The gap between international and domestic automakers widens as U.S. companies fall to a combined ACSI score of 80 compared with 82 for European and Asian carmakers.

General Motors is the only U.S. automaker to improve customer satisfaction this year, stepping up to take the lead at 82. Ford falls behind GM with a drop to 81, followed by Fiat Chrysler at 77. While all three manufacturers posted sales declines for the first half of 2017, GM’s was by far the smallest.

Although U.S. cars have improved much over the years, Detroit automakers have not been as consistent in quality and customer satisfaction compared with their international counterparts. This year, lagging customer satisfaction is not about deteriorating quality, but rather lack of innovation compared with imports. Recalls also negatively impact satisfaction, and a growing number of surveyed drivers report experiencing a recall.

For the overall industry, vehicle dependability remains steady from a year ago, but drivers rate technology (controls, displays, navigation, video systems) and driving performance lower in 2017 for both mass-market and luxury cars. The least-satisfying aspect of the driving experience continues to be gas mileage—from SUVs to economy brands, consumers seek better mileage from their vehicles.